Abstract
Thermal radiation is the most primitive light emission phenomenon of materials. Broadband radiation from red-hot materials is well known as the kick-starter phenomenon of modern quantum physics in the early twentieth century; even nowadays, its artificial control plays a central role in modern science and technology. Herein, we report the fundamental thermal radiation properties of intrinsic one-dimensional semiconductors and metals, which have not been elucidated because of significant technical challenges. We observed narrow-band near-infrared radiation from semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes at 1000–2000 K in contrast to its broadband metallic counterpart. We confirm that the ultra-narrow-band radiation is enabled by the thermal generation of excitons that are hydrogen-like neutral exotic atoms comprising mutually bound electrons and holes. Our findings uncover the robust quantum correlations in intrinsic one-dimensional semiconductors even at 2000 K; additionally, the findings provide an opportunity for excitonic optothermal engineering toward the realization of efficient thermophotovoltaic energy harvesting.
Highlights
Thermal radiation is the most primitive light emission phenomenon of materials
This broadband thermal radiation is well known as the kick-starter phenomenon of modern quantum physics in the early twentieth century[1]; even nowadays, its artificial control plays a central role in many aspects of modern science and technology, from thermal energy harvesting[2,3,4,5,6,7] to the aerospace industry[8]
Our findings uncover the fundamental high-temperature photophysics of 1D solids, which are dominated by robust quantum correlations even at 2000 K, and may provide an opportunity for excitonic optothermal engineering that enables the conversion of heat to photons with a well-defined energy toward the realization of efficient thermophotovoltaic energy harvesting
Summary
Thermal radiation is the most primitive light emission phenomenon of materials. Broadband radiation from red-hot materials is well known as the kick-starter phenomenon of modern quantum physics in the early twentieth century; even nowadays, its artificial control plays a central role in modern science and technology. In contrast to the narrowband radiation that is observed from isolated atoms because of their well-defined energy levels, condensed matter generally emits a broad spectrum of radiation owing to its continuous energy bands (Fig. 1a, b) This broadband thermal radiation is well known as the kick-starter phenomenon of modern quantum physics in the early twentieth century[1]; even nowadays, its artificial control plays a central role in many aspects of modern science and technology, from thermal energy harvesting[2,3,4,5,6,7] to the aerospace industry[8]. Our findings uncover the fundamental high-temperature photophysics of 1D solids, which are dominated by robust quantum correlations even at 2000 K, and may provide an opportunity for excitonic optothermal engineering that enables the conversion of heat to photons with a well-defined energy toward the realization of efficient thermophotovoltaic energy harvesting
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